The American surgeon
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Two hundred seventy patients with penetrating chest wall and thoracic injuries were treated at the Metropolitan Nashville General Hospital in a 5.5-year period ending July 1982. Most (250) were males, and the average age was 29.3 years. One hundred thirty-four injuries were the result of gunshot wounds and 18 patients had sustained shotgun wounds. ⋯ All but one of the patients who died following operating room thoracotomy died within 1 hour of admission. When thoracotomy is indicated, it frequently must be performed very soon after admission. The indications for emergency thoracotomy must be known and recognized early if it is to be an effective procedure.